Strava is taking action against data scrapers ahead of its IPO push, and CEO Michael Martin is direct about why.
"Unchecked AI scraping could be the death knell of the public internet," Martin told TechCrunch, saying that AI companies are "ruthlessly scraping" public websites to fuel their demand for training data. The result is degraded site performance across platforms.
Strava's response: a $11.99 monthly fee for all developers accessing its API—replacing its previous free, tiered access model. The free tier is ending.
The company is also requiring users to log in before viewing previously public data like fitness profiles and club listings. Scrapers can no longer harvest that information without authentication.
Strava's developer community has grown from 185,000 members last year to 241,000 this year. The company is retiring certain API endpoints entirely—cutting off access to club details and other sensitive information—and plans to add support for Model Context Protocol (MCP), giving Strava control over what gets shared and how.
This follows 2024 measures in which the company banned API use for AI training and blocked third-party apps from displaying other users' data. That move prompted developer warnings that their apps would suffer. Sunsetting API endpoints could affect dependent applications again.
Strava is offering developers a 90-day grace period before the switch takes effect. Some will accept the subscription fee; others are preparing for the impact.
For Strava, the move serves a dual purpose: demonstrating to IPO investors that the company protects user privacy while risking alienation of the developer ecosystem that has built its platform.
